Land Surveying as a Profession

I remember well when I first received my license to practice Land Surveying. It was 1968, and I , at age 28 was the youngest Land Surveyor in St. Joseph County, Indiana. Although I have retired, some 39 years later, the situation really hasn't changed much.

Sure there are surveyors younger than me, but not by much. The average age of those still active keeps going up while the number of young men and women who choose Land Surveying seems to decline each year. An often expressed reason relates to the length of time to get a license coupled with perceived low salary expectations. Another reason is that we, as a profession have not done enough to promote ourselves and our work to young people. We work in the background in most cases, seldom in the spotlight with the engineers and architects involved in a given project.

Actually,  I believe that the length of time required to get a license, combined with the continuing education mandated by most states has done much to eliminate the low salary potential. Many Land Surveyors command salaries in six figures, making it equal or higher than some other seemingly loftier professions.

The behind the scenes, out of the spotlight aspect of our profession is perhaps the greatest obstacle to making our profession more attractive. Combined with technological advances which allow one person to do the work of a whole crew, fewer and fewer people are exposed to land surveying and what a land surveyor does.

I am as guilty as anyone, having a one man operation with no employees for the last 16 years of my practice. Not exactly a promoter of the profession, Hopefully, in addition to providing information to practicing land surveyors, this website will also become a landing page to anyone who has an interest in Land Surveying.

I believe that the opportunities for someone going into the profession have never been brighter, or the possibilities for success more probable.

NOTE: Date of registration corrected to 1968.  The original posted date of 1975 was my second license.  I guess I did not remember it well.   Sorry.